A n00bs experience with weed and anxiety...

So another post here on social anxiety had me thinking I'd start my own thread on my experiences so far with cannabis and anxiety. I am basically a weed virgin exploring pot and life itself for the first time. I won't go into great detail except to say that I'm a life long social anxiety sufferer who has also been trying to escape an enabling and codependent relationship with his parents. Basically they did everything for me well into my 30s and didn't allow me to develop a personality of my own, I'm only now starting to grow up at the age of 33. I'm still financially and otherwise somewhat dependant on them but trying to change that and grow as an individual.
 
From what I've read everyone reacts differently so my experiences are probably just my own but still perhaps something to keep in mind for anyone reading this with Social Anxiety thinking of trying it. IMO you have to be very careful with cannabis and anxiety, especially social anxiety. BUT I think it's also very beneficial for everyone with emotional problems given you go into it with an open mind. I've found that it can very much boost the paranoia and anxiety I already feel on a daily basis around people and make things worse. As a result I would be extremely careful with trying it in situations in which you are already or likely to become anxious, in fact I would suggest not trying it in these cases. As a result I don't see it as a tool for directly treating my anxiety. Instead I smoke it largely by myself on days that I'm off and find that it puts me in an incredibly introspective and mellow mood for several days, even after toking / eating. It's here that I see the benefit. It's during these mellow introspective days that I have had some genuine insight into myself, life and where some of my anxiety comes from. I feel it's actually helped me grow as an individual and enjoy life more. It's NOT all positive mind you.
 
For me I see cannabis's benefits as a tool for those with emotional difficulties to help explore themselves. For example the other day I was tripping on some weed and had some of the most amazing emotional experiences out in nature and listening to music. I've never considered myself a music person my whole life but this time I was transported to somewhere and actually moved to tears by the music I was listening too. And the trip in the garden was similarly amazing, this time visually.
 
So far I've stuck to high indica strains as I've been told that sativa has the potential to be even more anxiety inducing. I've also tried edibles quite a lot and LOVE the body high they give you. But be careful with them as they last a long time and hit hard!

 

 
Thanks for the reply! I have actually been thinking of getting a vaporizer but would need to do a lot of research first. Read reviews etc. Thanks for the name I'll look into that one. I hear there is actually a cannabis lounge downtown here where I can go and try out a vape if I bring my own weed. Vancouver is getting crazy, it's basically recreationally legal here which is great!
 
I haven't noticed anything really bad when smoking it so far for myself except for that increased paranoia but that I can usually rationalise away. I even toked up with a bunch of new friends last week and had a great time at a party. However I had already acclimatized myself to these guys and don't feel a lot of anxiety around them at this point, and even so I still felt heightened bits of paranoia at times, nothing I couldn't rationalise away though. I was thinking of getting a bowl and trying that next. I'm also interested in trying bongs and vapes simply because of how much easier they are on your lungs, long term I don't want to be smoking joints as I value my lung health.